BP cheered up its long-suffering investors with a rise in their quarterly dividend today, as it posted profits that came in ahead of expectations.

The British oil ‘supermajor’ was also forced to reiterate that it is ‘committed’ to a joint venture with Russian state-backed oil giant Rosneft, after its president Igor Sechin was hit with US sanctions.

BP posted underlying earnings of £1.9billion in the first quarter of the year, down 13 per cent on the £2.5billion it reported in the same period of 2013.

BP boost: An 8.3p per cent rise in the quarterly dividend to 9.75 US cents per share helped send BP's stock higher

Earnings fell due to a weak environment for oil refining and lower production caused by BP’s ongoing programme of asset sales since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The firm also wrote off £310million on a decision not to proceed with the Utica shale project in the US.

But the figures came in ahead of expectations, while an 8.3p per cent rise in the quarterly dividend to 9.75 US cents per share helped send BP’s stock up 4.2p to 492.5p in late morning trading.

BP has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to its tie-up with Rosneft, in which it owns a stake of nearly 20 per cent, amid Russia’s diplomatic and military stand-off with Ukraine.

Oil pundit Malcolm Graham-Wood said the company had ‘little choice now the money is down’ but to stand by its strategic investment in Russia.

BP said it was considering the potential impact of sanctions against Sechin, who presented the Rosneft deal alongside BP chief Bob Dudley at the British firm’s London headquarters last year.

Russian production including Rosneft was responsible for about a third of BP’s output in the first quarter.

But the weak rouble, a result of the tension with Ukraine, saw Rosneft’s contribution to BP’s profit fall significantly on the previous quarter, down from £646million to £161million on an underlying basis.

Dudley said the company was delivering on its targets and that the focus was on returning cash to investors.

‘As well as progressive growth in the dividend per share, we expect to use surplus cash to support further distributions through share buy-backs or other mechanisms,’ he said in a statement.

Provisions to cover the Gulf of Mexico costs including clean-up, fines, compensation and legal costs remained at £25.4billion during the quarter.